“Family Life Entails Great Responsibility” by Bishop DiMarzio

As we continue our reflection on family life, coinciding with the Synod of the Family, the definition of family is probably most important for us to understand. Pope Francis recently said, “There is no future without children.”

In his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, St. John Paul II said, “When they become parents, spouses receive from God the gift of a new responsibility. Their parental love is called to become for the children the visible sign of the very love of God, ‘from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.’”

Spouses becoming parents presents new challenges for married life. The shared responsibility for child rearing today is much different than it was in the past. Thank God that our culture has changed so that both mothers and fathers take responsibility for the care and rearing of their children.

I have two nieces and one nephew who are married, and between them there are nine children. Both of my nieces have a set of twins, one boy and one girl each. So I have been able to observe the development of these children having baptized my own five nieces and nephews and now these nine great-nieces and nephews.